


Glossy

by QueerSpaceLions (Anglophile_Fiend)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asexual Hunk (Voltron), Bisexual Lance, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Marketing Majors, Past Abuse, Past Psychological Trauma, Romance, Shiro has PTSD, Slow Burn, Team Feels, Undergrad students, hunk x lance, in the closet, minor character relationship - Freeform, service dog, to himself, trans male pidge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-20 13:47:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8251294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anglophile_Fiend/pseuds/QueerSpaceLions
Summary: After having returned from a traumatic experience, Shiro is starting over again with a brand new major. It just so happens to be the same as his fellow hometown resident, Keith. Thrown together for a semester long Marketing Lab, with Pidge, Hunk and Lance, all must work together to pass the class and help each other realize the truth and depth of their feelings.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to add smut tags when I post those chapters. Rt now it's all very G. Hope you enjoy silly boys being silly and falling in love!

Lance elbowed Hunk hard, “Sweet! Did ya see that girl smile at me? I think she wants to get into these Lance Pants.”

“Lance, no.” Hunk groaned in reply. “Not only is that not an actual pun, but it’s the worst phrase you’ve ever created. Which is saying something because you came up with Lance Lance Revolution. Also, that girl, did not even give you a grin.”

“Hey I saw what I saw, and it was an invitation. She clearly wants some Latin lovin’” Lance made little finger guns to illustrate his point.

Pidge jumped in with a snarky retort, “Really, the one over there? The same one who’s currently kissing her girlfriend?”

“Whatever, she totally smiled at me guys, allllll the ladies love Lance.” He claimed, with his head tilted up with a cocky air and a smug grin before closing his eyes. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  


Hunk’s dark and meaty paws flew up to his ears, “Make it stop, for the love of all things baked and delicious, make it stop.”

That sent Pidge into full on snort-giggles. Hunk let his hands fall to the cafeteria table and joined him in happy raucous laughter. After a moment they let the joy fizzle down, as they realized Lance was no longer paying them any attention. Instead they found him pointedly staring at a round, toned butt leaning over the pool table, a decidedly male butt, at that.

“Lance? Earthians to Lance. You still with us buddy?”

“Huh? Wa-? Oh, no. Umm, yeah, I was just thinking…umm… about how much I love to play pool.” Lance drawled then sped to the finish.

“Yeahhhh… Uh huh, right man. Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Though Hunk was Asexual, he and Pidge had a theory that Lance was Bi, but just hadn’t figured it out yet. He would never admit they had bets on when Lance would come to the realization, but he is hoping for Thanksgiving.

  


In short, Hunk catches Pidge’s gaze and mouths “bi bi bi” with raised eyebrows. Pidge snortgiggles again, sending them both right back into a pique. Which finally serves to tear Lance’s attention from the ‘pool table’.

“Hey, who’s doing funny? That’s my gig!” He sounded indignant, but it was more for show than any real frustration at being ousted as chief of comic relief.

Though a shared sense of humor was the glue that initially bonded Lance and Hunk, being paired as roommates their first year of university, had arguably done more. Both were thankful they were able to remain roomies when they moved into the Marketing dorm, Hawkins, this year, as every 3 rd year student must. Which was how they came to be eating dinner with their newest roommate-Pidge. All the Upperclassmen dorms were either triples or singles, and the pair couldn’t bear to be parted.

Lance and Hunk, both warmed to Pidge instantly. It was hard not to like a guy with goofy chestnut hair, who was more glasses than face, and barely came up to their chests.  That first night, Pidge explained he was a trans guy, and kindly took his time explaining what that meant to his two new and utterly clueless roomies. That straightforward nature had made them respect Pidge, and his ability to hack the school’s servers to access free Netflix, Hulu and HBO GO- cemented the trio’s bond as true blue buds.

  


Focus back on him, Lance stretched his olive and lanky frame with a yawn. After running one hand through his close-cropped auburn hair, he announced to no one in particular, “Well, I’m ready for a nap.”

Hunk jeered, “No way man, we have our first session of Practicum Lab in like… fifteen minutes. We cannot miss the first day.”

“Ugh.” Lance sagged down the bench. “But I stayed up till like 4am playing Overwatch. I’m sleepy,” he whined. Folding his arms into a makeshift pillow and collapsing on the tabletop.

“Man, come on. You were playing WITH US!” Hunk gestured between himself and Pidge, who had at some point tuned them both out. This was commonplace and Pidge was content pecking away at his laptop.

  


“Fine.” Lance sighed with a dramatic flourish. “You win. I’ll go, but we leave now. I wanna get good seats.”

“Good? This is a Lab course, what makes a seat good in a classroom we won’t spend much time in?”

“One with a clear view of the door, obviously! That way, we can watch all the beautiful girls stroll on in.”

“You do remember I’m AroAce right? Like, I literally could not care any less about what other people look like.”

“Of course dude, but you’re my wingman, my communications officer, my l-“

  


Hunk cut him off, “Okay okay, whatever, are we going?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Lance gave a wide grin and rapped on the table. “Come on Pidgery-doo, class time.”

Pidge glared daggers up at him, “you know I hate that nickname. Why would you make up a name that’s longer than my original one? It makes no sense.”

Lance held his hands up in apology, “my bad man, I can’t turn of the creativity faucet, it’s always a-flowin.” Two sets of eyes rolled hard, but followed as Lance saw neither sliding out of the booth. 

  


They arrived early and were forced to park themselves in the front row, so Lance could have his ‘view’. 

Pidge and Hunk chatted with enthusiasm about their new advanced astrophysics class. While students trickled in at a steady rate, Lance evaluated each one, though neither of his friends made an effort to listen.  A willowy blonde with dreadlocks walked in and Lance licked his lips, “Hey guys, ya think she’ll put us in pairs?” Before they could answer, he sucked in a breath so sharp, both their heads swiveled to the door. A handsome and fit guy with a jet black hipster-mullet was walking in.

“Oh, he IS tasty. Good eye Lance” Pidge spoke with a salacious tone.

“Yea…What? No, that’s not. No, that’s the guy, it’s Keith!” He replied a bit louder than intended, but the young man didn’t appear to have noticed anything amiss as he moved along to sit a few rows up.

Pidge crooked an eyebrow, “Who the heck is Keith? Your ex?”

“Pidge, no! Just cuz you’re into every gender that exists, doesn’t mean the rest of us are. I’m totally mega straight, ok? Geeze!” Face reddened and visibly flustered, Lance continued.

“ANYway, Keith is the reason why I’m here. I was on the waitlist, to get into this upper div program and when I came in for the interview, that guy burst out the doors in a furious huff. The Dean called him Keith, and said he was going to be the last accepted student, but after some tantrum or something, they weren’t letting him stay. Bad ‘tude dude was out and yours truly was in. But now he’s clearly in. So, now what does that mean for me? Am I out? Oh shit! That’s not fair! I already went to all my classes. What am I gonna do?”

  


Pidge gave him an exasperated look. “Chill out Lance. They can’t revoke you now. You’re safe.”

“You sure about that Pidge-pie?”

“Yes, but if you don’t knock of the nicknames, I’ll throw you out this third-story window.”

“Touchy, touchy.”

  


The room became hushed all of a sudden, as everyone turned to the front. A beautiful and ethereal creature walked in the room. She was all dark flawless skin, silver hair and bright colorful tattoos. There was almost a collective gasp as she stopped behind the lectern and the students were in awe.  

“Alright, enough gawking, take a seat everyone, we’re getting started.” The woman, who was, evidently, Professor Lura spoke with authority. Once everyone could breathe again, they sat down and paid rapt attention.

She continued, “This is the practicum lab for the Marketing 305 class. If you’re not enrolled concurrently in that class, please leave.” She paused, and a few students shuffled out of the room. “Now, this is a semester long course and it is wholly hands on.”

Lance opened his mouth to no doubt make a crude joke, but Hunk beat him to the punch with a soft growl, so he held his tongue.

  


“You’ll be in teams creating a wraparound project. Not only a crafting an entire marketing campaign from the research on up, but the product as well. In this case, you’ll come up with an App that will appeal to the target market you’ll be given. We will of course support you, but everything will come from within your group- including, your grade. There will not be individual grades in this class. What your group gets, is what you get. You’ll need to work as a cohesive team to problem solve and innovate.”

A hand flew up from the middle of the room and a student began speaking, “Professor, will we get-“ and was cut off.

“I’m getting there. You have already been assigned group members. Since you’re all living in the Hawkins, and this project will take a sizeable portion of your day, we have created groups from your room and floormates.” A wave of sound echoed through the room, some groans, some shock, but Pidge, Hunk, and Lance all crowed with delight.

The same students hand shot up, Hunk now recognized him as a shady guy named Zandu, but the Professor held up her own hand to stop him from speaking. “I know. Your dorm is singles and triples and you’ll be in groups of 4. If you check the class page, you can see who your members are. Go ahead, pull out your phones- I know the suspense is killing you.”

  


She was of course, right, and every student made haste to find the list. While she stood, arms crossed patient and alert.

“Well, now that’s interesting”, Pidge spoke up first.

Lance and Hunk shifted to stare down at him, “Well? Who’s our fourth?” Lance asked with his words and Hunk with his eyes.

A shadow descended over them, and all three looked up to the looming figure.

“It’s me.”

Lance’s eyes bugged out and his jaw went slack as he recognized his new partner and his old scowl. “Keith?”

With a resigned sigh he replied, “That’s my name.”

Hunk looked puzzled, “How did you know who we were? Have we met before?”

With a head toss and flick of fingers towards the professor, Keith answered, “She told me. That prof is brilliant. She knows every single Marketing Major and never forgets a face.”

“Sounds like you’ve taken quite the shine to our lovely professor,” Lance quipped, backing into his comfort zone of humor.

“She’s not my type.” Then bent down to Lance. “You on the other hand, beanpole, have all the right… qualifications.” He drawled out that last word, making it sound obscene as he raked his gaze down Lance's body.

Face turning beat red, Lance stammered, “W-w-wuh? Hey M-man, Woah. I don’t… I’m not…Stop that, get the fuck outta my face!”

Keith scowled, “I was just messing around, kid, lighten up. You are not actually my type at all,” finishing with an air of utter disinterest.

  


“Shirogane Takashi? I don’t have you…huh? This note...”

Keith spun so fast at the sound of the Professor’s voice, he was almost dizzy, “Shiro!”

“Keith?”

They remained stock still for a long moment, before the Professor interrupted. “Gentlemen, do we know one another?”

Keith could only manage a weak nod, his mind to busy recalling everything he knew about the man before him, and marveling that he was there in the flesh.

“Stupendous! Shiro, is that the name you prefer?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

  


“And what about him?” Professor Lura swept her hand down and everyone stared at a seated black lab in a harness at Shiro’s side.

“This is Lion, my service dog. He’s working, so no petting.” He cautioned, a small bit of nervousness hid in his voice.

“Great. Shiro and Lion, you’ll join Keith and his team. I assume campus administration has made a place for you in Hawkins as well?”

“Yes, they did Ma’am.”

“Perfect. Go sit with you new team, and I will continue our class.

  


Shiro moved toward the other guys and Keith swayed forward as if he was going to touch, but caught himself in time. “Your hair’s different.”

That made Shiro huff a small laugh and kind smile that made his eyes crinkle. “We’ve not seen each other in ages, and the first thing you say is about my hair.”

Peering around Keith, Hunk spoke up, “I really like it! The undercut, the three colors, that forelock is pretty sweet man.”

“Thank you.” Shiro moved closer to the group and said, “I’m Shiro, and this is Lion. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand, and was met with a firm grip and a grin. The same silent nod and shake was given to Lance and Pidge as well. Once he got back around to Keith, Shiro spoke softer as he moved into Keith’s space, “It’s really good to see you, old friend. I’m glad we’re in the same major.”

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Keith reached up and gripped one of Shiro’s wide shoulders. “Me too, Shiro. Shit. Me too.” Then Shiro pulled him in for one-armed hug and pat before letting go and sitting down.

  


An hour later, the class streamed out into the hallways, chattering excitedly about ideas, plans, and dreams.

“Should we head down to the Library and start making our battle plan?” Shiro asked in a serious and placid tone.

“Nah. This is gonna be cake, man. We come up with an app, a catchy angle, I present it to the class and bing, bang, boom, this project is done and in the bag.” Lance replied while walking backwards addressing his four teammates.

“Really? That easy, huh?” Keith asked with skepticism dripping from his voice.

“Yup” Lance popped the ‘p’ hard as he spun around, “now back to that nap.”

Keith frowned and with a huff said, “Wait a minute there Mr. Bing Bang Boom. This is a semester long project, you think if passing this class was easy, there would be only a single solitary assignment?”

“He’s right Lance,” Pidge offered. “This is going to take months of work to complete, we can’t put it off one day even.”

“I’m with him. I was a grad student, and this is grad level work.” Shiro spoke with confidence and authority that brooked no argument.

“You were a grad student? Why are you back in undergrad? Lance inquired, never one to shy away from an invasive question.

Shiro’s face darkened, and he ducked his head. “Long story.”

“We have ti-”

  


“LANCE!” Keith cut him off. “Leave it alone. We should get over to the library to start brainstorming right now.”

“Fine, fine, but then I’m taking that nap.”

“Lance, you have work in two hours, I don’t think you’ll have time,” Hunk offered.

“I will if we hurry, let’s go Team…uhhh…we don’t have a name. We should get a team name.”

“Lance,” Keith said in a warning tone.

“Oh great idea, Team Lance. I like it! Spicy!”

Four voices replied as one, “NO!”

“Whatever. You all have zero vision.” 

  



End file.
